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Katoomba, Australia is about 2 hours by train from downtown Sydney. As you saw in my last post we visited the Blue Mountains and Katoomba is one of the easiest ways to get access to the mountains. Since our adventures in Sydney have kept us busy I hadn’t been able go to a yarn shop. On a whim, I googled ‘yarn shops in Katoomba’ and to my luck one popped up! The yarn gods were smiling upon me.

The Granny Square is a cute shop about 400m from the Katoomba Train Station. It is situated right across from the Street Art Walk. When I entered the shop I noted that there was a winter sale! Woot woot! My goal was to find either some cotton yarn (for a future top) or some great sock yarn.

The sales associate was friendly and she let you do your shopping independently. Several customers had questions and she was more than happy to help. The store stocked mostly Morris and Co Yarns. This is a company that started in Sydney as a needlework business and then in the 2000s added yarn sales. The Granny Square also stocked quite a bit of Manos de Uruguay as well as Rowan yarn. The sock yarn selection was decent (German wools), but to my surprise the husband turned down picking out yarn for a hand knit pair! 😱 No worries! More yarn for me! The cotton selection was pretty limited, but I did manage to score 4 of these pretties.

They are 100% Pima Cotton and feel oh so soft. Plus they were really affordable ($27AUD for 4 skeins). A tank top or short sleeve top is in the foreseeable future.

The Granny Square was a cute shop. They stocked basic accessories, pattern books, and lots of wool to keep you happy. The sales associate was friendly and accessible. The shop prices were overall affordable, but the selection was a bit limited. If you are ever in Katoomba or the surrounding area I suggest you stop by for a peek in the shop!

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Recently, I had a lull between knitting projects. I couldn’t quite decide what to work on next. My Ravelry queue had about 30 choices, but the choices just made me more indecisive. So instead, I decided to investigate the excitement around Tunisian Crochet.

I gathered some scrap yarn and a hook and settled in front of my computer. I figured out the mechanics in about 10 minutes. If you know the basics of crochet, Tunisian Crochet isn’t that far off. The difference is you work the piece from right to left and DON’T turn the work.

I chose to work the Tunisian Knit Stitch, which to an inexperienced eye looks just like knitting. You can notice a slight difference in the back of the swatch. The look and weight of the garment is slightly thicker than knitting.

I ended up really liking the final look of the stitch. However, in order to make anything larger than a swatch I will need to invest in an Afghan hook (super long crochet hook). I don’t know if there will be much Tunisian Crochet in my future, but it was fun to try it out.

Have you tried Tunisian Crochet? What did you think about it?

Until Next Time,

-Whit-

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This weekend I headed to Guangzhou City to trying find some yarn. This took quite a lot of preparation beforehand. Fist of all, I don’t speak or read Chinese so I needed to research where to find yarn and the mode of transportation to take. I ended up concluding that I could take the Metro to Sun Yet-Sen University to the big textile marketplace.

This place was huge! I didn’t know where to begin looking. So I began wandering. I weaved through the shops filled with fabric, beads, buttons, and embroidery patches for about 20 minutes. Eventually I came to an alley with some furry fabric. Maybe it was my inner yarn radar, but I felt a pull to investigate this alley.

Luckily, my yarn radar was correct. I found 4 or 5 shops with some yarn in them. Let me just say these yarn shops were not like the US. They had all of the yarn stacked up and it was still in the plastic. I had to be very very careful while shopping. I didn’t want a mountain of yarn toppling down on me.

I ended up purchasing 6 skeins of yarn for ~$11USD. I bought 4 skeins of acrylic yarn (2 red, 2 blue) that were very very soft. At my new school, I am teaching a kids’ knitting class so this yarn will be perfect for them to practice with.

I also bought something called “milk cotton.” Not sure what that is, but it feels like a soft cotton blend to me. I choose blue as my friend is having a baby in December. I am still looking for a good pattern, but I am thinking a little cardigan would be best.

Overall, this was an interesting shopping experience. I really didn’t like that the yarn not out on display. I am so use to the tactile experience of yarn shopping. I am going to still keep an eye out for an actual yarn shop so keep checking back for my progress.

Until Next Time,

-Whit-

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I am a little bit of an unusual knitter in that I have a very small yarn stash. Like my entire stash fits into two storage bins (56.7 L) and these bins are not overflowing. Why such a little stash? Well, check out my post No Stash Girl to read the backstory.

Recently, I was doing a little spring cleaning and decided that I needed to look through my stash. I have been buying quite a bit of yarn lately and I had forgotten what I already owned. Here is ~85% of my stash:

I also uncovered a very embarrassing bag of what looked like yarn vomit. I immediately shoved this back in the bag to return to its hiding spot in the depths of my stash bin.

The other 15% is here:

About a year ago, I decided I wanted to crochet another blanket from all my leftovers. Well, let’s just say that the blanket hit a BIG stall. Digging through my stash defiantly revived my commitment to getting it done. Already this weekend I added about two more inches to the blanket. I am not really following a particular design with this one. I am just letting the yarn take me on a journey.

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My Knit Picks Yarn is here! Woot woot! Last week, I succumbed to Knit Picks marketing email. I clicked and looked and clicked and looked and now my goodies are here 😊.

I wanted to design something in solid rainbow colors. So I selected some Shine Sport and Comfy Sport, which are sport weight Pima Cotton/acrylic blends. I am thinking a cowl, but I am not 100% committed to that idea. I also purchased 2 skeins of Felici in Limeade and Slumber Party. Both skeins remind me of delicious salt water taffy. I couldn’t resist the fun colors.

Knit Picks is a solid online shopping option for yarn if you are being cost conscious. They have a variety of affordable selections that are not just acrylic-based. Unlike big box retailers, Knit Picks stocks wool, cotton, linen, and alpaca in 6 different weights. So if you haven’t peruse their site I definitely suggest a visit.

Until Next Time,

-Whit-

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Headbands are a great spring transition accessory. They keep your ears warm on those nippy days and are a fashionable way to hide a bad hair day 😉. Headbands make for great stashbusters as they use around 30-40 grams of yarn.They also are great gifts for kids, teens, and co-workers.

Flowers are a easy way to adore a basic knitted band. I generally crochet them, but I also like to experiment with I-cords. Here are some of my original headbands listed in my Etsy shop.

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At the beginning of the month, I got an awesome email. I had won a free skein of yarn! Woot woot! This thank you is delayed, but THANK YOU Talya at Atlantis Yarns.

I received a lovely skein of fingering weight yarn in Seafoam (100 grams). It is a combination of superwash merino, silk, and silver poly. I love the little pop of sparkle that the silver poly gives it. The yarn feels soft (even my husband wanted to pet it haha) and I can’t wait to get it on the needles.

Now all I need is the perfect pattern. I am thinking a shawl to really show off the sparkle and beautiful sheen of the silk. Any suggestions?